Excite Night: Kentucky gymnastics tops visiting Arkansas

A throng of 5,613 nearly filled Memorial Coliseum for the Excite Night home opener as Kentucky defeated Arkansas

Audrey Harrison, center, was mobbed by teammates after she came away from the uneven bars with a 9.90 victory. Harrison also won the floor exercise with a 9.850.
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Gymnastics Coach Tim Garrison said he was "extremely happy" to see a crowd of 5,613 fans.
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Kentucky's Shannon Mitchell took first place on the balance beam, an honor she shared with teammate Marissa Beucler and Arkansas' Sydnie Dillard. "Beam has been my favorite event forever," Mitchell said.
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Audrey Harrison, center, got hugged from her teammates after competing on the uneven bars, as UK defeated Arkansas in an excite night gymnastics meet on Friday January 18, 2013 in Lexington, KY. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
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Marissa Beucler, took in the applause after she performed on the balance beam as UK defeated Arkansas in an excite night gymnastics meet on Friday January 18, 2013 in Lexington, KY. Photo by Mark Cornelison
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Holly Cunnningham got a high five from coach Tim Garrison after her vault, as UK defeated Arkansas in an excite night gymnastics meet on Friday January 18, 2013 in Lexington, KY. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
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Kayla Sienkowski, flipped around on the uneven bars as UK defeated Arkansas in an excite night gymnastics meet on Friday January 18, 2013 in Lexington, KY. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
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Kayla Sienkowski, prepared to take to the uneven bars as UK defeated Arkansas in an excite night gymnastics meet on Friday January 18, 2013 in Lexington, KY. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
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Shannon Mitchell, floated in the air during her floor exercise, as UK defeated Arkansas in an excite night gymnastics meet on Friday January 18, 2013 in Lexington, KY. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
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Holly Cunningham and teammates cheered on Shannon Mitchell as she finished up on the balance beam as UK defeated Arkansas in an excite night gymnastics meet on Friday January 18, 2013 in Lexington, KY. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
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Audrey Harrison, performed on the balance beam as UK defeated Arkansas in an excite night gymnastics meet on Friday January 18, 2013 in Lexington, KY. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
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Marissa Beucler, performed on the balance beam as UK defeated Arkansas in an excite night gymnastics meet on Friday January 18, 2013 in Lexington, KY. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
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"Any time you get a win in the SEC, we're happy with that," Garrison said. " ... Looking at our own performance and just taking Arkansas completely out of the picture, we could have done a lot of things better. And that's what we'll need to do.

"As we go through the season, we're going to need to handle the pressure of being home or being away. And I don't think we did that as well as we could have tonight. I think we will. Now we've got three competitions under our belt and we're moving in the right direction."

Coming off its first SEC dual road win (at Auburn) since 1999, Kentucky now has what is believed to be its first back-to-back SEC dual victories. Friday marked UK's first win over a top 10 team since at least 2006.

"So exciting," all-around champion Audrey Harrison said. "And the crowd was so big, it made it even better."

A throng of 5,613 nearly filled Memorial Coliseum for the Excite Night home opener as UK improved to 4-1 overall, 2-0 in the SEC. The Cats scored 195.525 at Auburn.

UK won each rotation against Arkansas (0-2, 0-2).

Harrison provided the top moment with a 9.90 victory on the uneven bars.

The highlight "because we struggled a little on vault. We had a mistake over here on bars before her routine, and she came up last and just absolutely nailed her routine," Garrison said. "So that for me was a big-time highlight."

For Harrison, too.

"I was most happy with bars, because I kind of struggled last meet. And I had a rough warmup, too," said the junior from Knoxville. "Then when I hit my routine, it was just that much more exciting."

As she progressed through the event, Harrison had to maintain her poise.